CLEVELAND’S PLAN FOR TRANSFORMING SCHOOLS

reinventing public education in our city and serving as a model of innovation for the state of Ohio

Submitted to:

Ohio Governor, John R. Kasich Ohio Speaker of the House, William G. Batchelder

Ohio Senate President, Thomas E. Niehaus Ohio House of Representatives Minority Leader, Armond Budish

Ohio Senate Minority Leader, Eric Kearney

From: Mayor of the City of Cleveland, Frank G. Jackson

February 2, 2012

Page | 1

PART I: INTRODUCTION The Mayor of the City of Cleveland is committed to a plan that will reinvent public education in

our city and serve as a model of innovation for the state of Ohio. Our goal is to ensure every

child in Cleveland attends a high quality school and that every neighborhood has a multitude of

great schools from which families can choose. To do this, Cleveland must transition from a

traditional, single-source school district to a new system of district and charter schools that are

held to the highest standards and work in partnership to create dramatic student achievement

gains for every child. The plan is built upon growing the number of excellent schools in

Cleveland, regardless of provider, and giving these schools autonomy over staff and budgets in

exchange for high accountability for performance. We

will create an environment that empowers and values

principals and teachers as professionals and makes certain

that our students are held to the highest expectations. Our

efforts are grounded in two equally compelling dynamics:

irst, we are driven by a fierce sense of urgency.

Public education has been shackled by so much—

by legal restrictions, bureaucracy, work rules,

traditions and the influence of our shared experience

growing up in an America not yet attuned to the intensity

of global competition. We can no longer tolerate these

restraints. The reinvention of education in Cleveland

demands a giant leap of imagination, as we know that

students in Cleveland are not building the knowledge,

skills and attributes that position them to be successful

and competitive in the 21st century global economy.

Public trust and confidence in the schools over decades

have almost evaporated, evidenced most dramatically by

the district’s steep drop in enrollment. And an untenable

financial situation is forcing draconian cuts in services

that result in more and more students and families leaving

the district and the city.

Second, we are driven by an informed sense of hope, as

Cleveland has already started this journey to

transformation. The last several years have shown

investments in new and redesigned schools, partnerships

between the district and high-performing charter schools,

differentiated investments in schools, and more.

Cleveland has innovative options that are achieving

noteworthy results: Campus International, a high demand

K–3 school housed on Cleveland State University’s campus; MC2STEM high school, where first

and second year students attend school full time at the Great Lakes Science Center and General

Electric’s Nela Park; and Near West Intergenerational School, where young students learn

alongside elders within a mastery-based curriculum. But the future must include many different

kinds of schools [see sidebar] that inspire the public and give children and their parents choices

F

Imagine… A Global Language Academy that immerses students in the languages and cultures that are shaping the world – particularly Chinese and Arabic. The curriculum would include study abroad opportunities for students and teachers and live-feed interactive learning with students from other countries. Partnerships with local nationality groups and with Global Cleveland would be important tools to infuse real-world content into the curriculum.

An Environmental Science School that deliberately connects students to the lake, the Metroparks and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Students will work alongside scientists and naturalists on pressing environmental issues that affect the health and welfare of our community.

Early Childhood Academies in every neighborhood that use a year-round preschool to third grade loop to guarantee that children enter fourth grade at or above grade level to prevent the need for remediation. Along with a strong academic focus, special attention would be paid to ensure social/emotional readiness.

Page | 2

from among an array of innovative options. Our schools

must run beyond the agrarian school calendar of the 19th

century, beyond printed textbooks and beyond the

physical walls of today’s classrooms. Fundamentally,

schools in Cleveland must break the one-size-fits-all

premise of today’s education system.

This plan is more than an operational overhaul. If we do

not forge a dramatically different path now, the future of

quality public education of any kind in Cleveland is in

serious jeopardy. Cleveland’s leadership is committed to

work toward this new vision of education that will inspire

and convince the public that our city and our schools are

worthy of the investment of their children and dollars.

PART II: THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW Public education in Cleveland is at a crossroads. On the

one hand, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District

(CMSD) has undertaken significant reform efforts,

particularly in the past five years, generating positive

results for some students. Additionally, a group of high-

performing charter schools have joined these reform

efforts and developed more robust partnerships with the

district.

In 2006, the CMSD began to open new schools that

provided some autonomy at the site level in exchange for

accountability. These schools were intended to test new

models of education and demonstrate that high quality

schools could attract and retain students and families in

Cleveland. A total of 13 new district schools have opened

in the last five years and are steadily building enrollment

and demonstrating high performance.

In spring 2010, the CMSD adopted its Academic Transformation Plan, a comprehensive

approach to central office redesign and school-by-school improvement. This plan is a significant

step forward for the community. Over the past two years, district leadership has worked

diligently to implement critical aspects of the plan, including restructuring central office to cut

costs and better support schools, implementing a more customized approach to managing

schools, and expanding the number of new and redesigned schools. This expansion included

partnerships with a number of high-performing charter schools in Cleveland, marking an

important shift in conversation to excellence regardless of the type of school. These efforts have

produced some noteworthy results:

The number of excellent and effective district and charter schools in Cleveland has grown

from 14 in 2006 to 37 in 2011. Currently, these schools enroll more than 11,400 students.

Imagine… An Urban Cooperative School that offers a holistic live-learn-work environment. Part of a surplus school building would be converted to living units for students, parents and teachers, with the entire operation managed by the cooperative. This school would serve some children and families whose circumstances defeat the best efforts of teachers in traditional schools.

A Residential Boarding School where students would live and learn five or seven days per week with adult supervisors/teachers also living on campus.

Career Technical Academies in several areas of the city where high school students are immersed in careers through internships and mentoring and use credit flexibility and blended technologies to ensure college and career relevance and readiness.

An English Immersion School that targets Spanish-speaking and other students to dramatically accelerate their mastery of English. This could include an option for students to partake in a local “exchange” program, where they spend a semester in an English-speaking home in or around Cleveland.

Page | 3

A more diverse set of options are offered by the CMSD than ever before, including 13

new schools opened since 2006: Cleveland School of Science and Medicine, Cleveland

School of Architecture and Design, Early College, MC2STEM, Design Lab, Ginn

Academy, two New Tech high schools, four single-sex elementary schools and Campus

International at Cleveland State University, as well as a redesigned Max Hayes.

The CMSD is the only district in the state that has a robust partnership with high-

performing charter schools based upon the rigorous National Association of Charter

School Authorizers’ standards. Six charter schools are sponsored by the CMSD, one of

which is co-located with a district high school and another located in a building

purchased from the district.

The CMSD is one of only a few districts in the country chosen to pilot the common core

state standards (the new college and career ready standards adopted by Ohio and 39 other

states) with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. CMSD teachers in

grades K–2 have been trained and are implementing the new standards, while teachers in

grades 3–5 are preparing for implementation of these new standards in fall 2012.

In partnership with the Cleveland Teachers Union, the CMSD is implementing a new

teacher development and evaluation system based on professional standards for the field

as well as student performance. Twenty-three schools are using this new system currently

and all schools will move to this system in 2012–13. Additionally, the Cleveland

Teachers Union and the district have agreed to begin the development of a differentiated

compensation system aligned to the teacher development and evaluation work.

Improved school safety and learning conditions in the CMSD have led to a 36 percent

decrease in serious safety incidents, a 15 percent reduction in student suspensions, a

measurable increase on students’ reported perceptions of safety and student support, and

an increase in student attendance over the past four years.

On the other hand, the pace of change is not fast enough, nor deep enough to overcome the

challenges facing the district. These challenges span academics, finances, operations and

enrollment and threaten the very existence of public education in the city:

Academics: Despite progress, the quality of education in schools remains unacceptable and

the pace of improvement inadequate. In the 2010–11 school year, 55 percent of Cleveland

schools (district and charter) were in academic watch or academic emergency. In fact, one-

third of Cleveland neighborhoods have only failing schools. On the 2011 Ohio

Achievement Assessments, just 43 percent of fifth grade CMSD students tested proficient

in reading and 30 percent tested proficient in mathematics. National and international

comparisons are worse, which is particularly alarming in terms of Ohio’s impending shift

to the new and much more rigorous common core standards. Most telling of all, for every

100 students entering ninth grade in Cleveland, 63 will graduate high school, 34 of those

graduates will enroll in college, and just seven will graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

Finances: The CMSD risks insolvency. It faces a $64.9 million budget deficit in 2012–

13: more than ten percent of the current fiscal year’s operating budget. The budget

deficit in 2013–14 is projected to be an additional $40 million. This situation persists

despite cost reductions of over $100 million over the past two years, including 23

Page | 4

school closings, layoffs of hundreds of employees, compensation and benefit reductions

and the sale of district buildings. This deteriorating financial position reflects structural

issues that have developed over the past 40 years: automatic step/scale increases in

salaries, rising health care costs, declining enrollment, diminishing tax collections and

the lack of a new operating levy since 1996. Community driven priorities—preschool,

transportation, arts, music and sports—are at risk, as are new school start-ups and

support. For the district’s charter partners, lack of access to full public funding results in

high-performing charter schools supplementing general operations with philanthropic

support, an unsustainable position in the long run.

Operations: The CMSD is mired in bureaucratic, outdated and cumbersome work rules.

State laws, management/union contracts, arbitration rulings, past practices and traditions

developed over decades have resulted in layers of rules that hamper progress and require

uniformity within and throughout the system. The district lacks sufficient flexibility with

regard to staffing, funding, resource allocation, management decisions, scheduling,

school calendar, and overall school autonomy. One result is that principals have very little

say in how their schools operate, how resources are allocated and who is on their team.

Enrollment: The most telling manifestation of the challenges facing the district is

declining enrollment. More than 30,000 students have left the CMSD over ten years. This

enrollment decline is a combination of decreasing city population, declining birth rates

and parents opting out of the public school district and entering charter schools.

Regardless of reason, the fact is that public education in Cleveland has lost both public

confidence and market share. Unfortunately, as Cleveland parents pick alternative

schools for their children, some are selecting schools that are consistently low

performing, while space in high-performing schools goes unused. Despite this, the

CMSD remains the 2nd

largest school district in Ohio, with some 66,000 children grades

K–12 within its jurisdiction and approximately 43,000 students in its schools.

5 12 14

72 53 43

13

11

9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2001-02 2006-07 2010-11

Tho

usa

nd

s o

f st

ud

en

ts

Cleveland School Enrollment by Year Source: Ohio Department of Education & Catholic Diocese of Cleveland

Diocese

District

Charter

Page | 5

PART III: CLEVELAND’S PLAN With our goal of ensuring every child in the city attends an excellent school and every

neighborhood has a multitude of great schools from which families can choose, Cleveland seeks

to reinvent our public education system. Our plan is based on an emerging national model that

profoundly changes the role of the school district. This

approach, or portfolio strategy, is showing promising results in

cities such as Baltimore, Denver, Hartford, New York and

others. In fact, Cleveland is one of 23 school districts involved

in the Portfolio School District Network, facilitated by the

Center for Reinventing Public Education. The Center has

identified seven tenets of autonomy and accountability [see

sidebar] it views as essential to the portfolio strategy.

Cleveland wants to transition from a traditional, single-source

school district to a new system of district and charter schools

that are held to the highest standards of performance and work

in partnership to create dramatic student achievement gains for

every child. Our main premise is that excellent schools, led by

exemplary principals and staffed by talented teachers, should

have full autonomy over human and financial resources in

exchange for high quality and accountability for performance.

This approach will open the system to new ideas, talents,

management philosophies and community assets so that our students can make the kind of

breakthroughs in performance required to compete in, and contribute to, the 21st century global

economy.

In order to provide powerful educational experiences and achieve dramatic results for our

students, we acknowledge that we must do away with traditional approaches and long-held

arrangements that have hardened into place over decades. We also need to move from talk of

reform to substantive and tenacious action. We realize that we must honestly confront what it

will take to move our students to where they need to be, while simultaneously redefining what,

how and from whom our students learn. We recognize, also, that this work must occur within the

larger context of students’ too-often troubled environments. But these challenges cannot be used

as excuses; excuses do not change outcomes. Rather, it is because our students face these

challenges that we must create a transformed system that will look and feel very different from

what we have today.

In the development of our plan, we acknowledge the Center for Reinventing Public Education’s

research and analysis, as well as the district/charter compact work funded by the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation and the recently released report by Mind Trust and Public Impact,

Creating Opportunity Schools, on transforming Indianapolis Public Schools. Our plan for

Cleveland has four interwoven and research-based strategies, most of which will require the

Governor’s and General Assembly’s support:

CHARACTERISTICS OF PORTFOLIO DISTRICTS

Citywide choices and options for all families

School autonomy

Pupil-based funding

Diverse support providers

Talent-seeking strategy

Extensive public engagement

Performance-based accountability for all schools

Page | 6

GROW THE NUMBER OF HIGH-PERFORMING DISTRICT AND CHARTER SCHOOLS IN CLEVELAND AND

CLOSE AND REPLACE FAILING SCHOOLS

Cleveland has a deep interest in providing every child in the city an excellent education and also

has an obligation to ensure that every neighborhood has great schools. But as our past

performance suggests, getting there is not easy. Building on and accelerating our work to date,

Cleveland’s plan is fundamentally built on aggressively growing the number of high-performing

schools while phasing out those that are not. Cleveland will define and support excellence under

the moniker of “Transformation Schools” with four strategies to ensure that every child in

Cleveland is attracted to and retained in an excellent school:

Promote, expand, and replicate existing high-performing district and charter schools.

Great public schools in Cleveland (district and charter) that meet high performance and

accountability standards can become Transformation Schools starting in the 2012–13 school

year. Currently just 24 percent of public schools in Cleveland meet this standard. They must

continue to perform at high levels and serve Cleveland’s children to keep this designation.

Transformation Schools operated by the district will be given full autonomy over school

budgets, staff selection and assignment, academic and student support programs, school

calendar and schedules in exchange for high accountability standards. Transformation

Schools operated by charter schools or charter management organizations will enter into

agreements with the district that specify expectations and required outcomes in exchange for

financial and other resources. As many of these schools are not fully enrolled, a priority will

be to fill these schools to capacity and then increase the number of students they serve. We

will also replicate those schools that demonstrate success.

Start new schools. We will bring the best national education models to Cleveland and also

invent our own schools that are unique to our city. Any new school that the CMSD

authorizes and supports—district or charter—must demonstrate how its students will be

prepared for the new realities of globalization and technology, the need for 21st century

knowledge and skills, and a diverse, multicultural and multidisciplinary world. We will

encourage local community partners to co-create new and innovative school models, and also

Grow the number of high-performing district and charter schools in Cleveland

and close and replace failing schools.

Focus district's central office on key support and governance roles and transfer

authority and resources to schools.

Create the Cleveland Transformation Alliance to ensure accountability for all

public schools in the city.

Invest and phase in high-leverage system reforms across all schools from preschool

to college and career.

Cleveland's Portfolio Schools Strategy

Page | 7

provide Cleveland teachers the opportunity to design new or adapt proven school models.

New schools will be geographically dispersed and will offer a broad range of academic

choices for students and parents.

Refocus and strengthen mid-performing schools. Currently, 21 percent of Cleveland

schools meet minimum state standards, have some critical academic and social conditions in

place and demonstrate potential for success. The CMSD will employ precise, customized and

differentiated interventions and investments based on the strengths and weaknesses of

individual schools to move these schools to meet the standards of Transformation Schools.

This may include intensive student tutoring and formative assessments, model lessons and

technology curriculum integration, as well as staffing and calendar changes. As warranted,

these schools will be granted some levels of autonomy.

Repurpose and address low-performing schools. Currently, 55 percent of Cleveland

schools are failing to meet even minimum state standards. Each year, the CMSD will target

the lowest 10–15 percent of these schools for immediate and dramatic action, including

closure and reassignment of students to better schools, closure and start-up of a new school,

phase in of a new program and phase out of the old, or turning the school over to a capable

charter operator. The CMSD will assign the remaining low-performing schools to a small

cadre of turnaround directors. These directors will be charged with establishing turnaround

goals, strategies and timelines for each school. Where significant and rapid improvement is

not achieved, the director will recommend schools for one of the immediate interventions

described above.

The growth of high-performing district and charter schools in Cleveland and the closing and

replacing of low-performing schools will be based on a consistent standard of quality. The

network of Transformation Schools will be used to help incubate new school models and provide

professional development and training venues for other schools.

FOCUS DISTRICT’S CENTRAL OFFICE ON KEY SUPPORT AND GOVERNANCE ROLES AND TRANSFER

AUTHORITY AND RESOURCES TO SCHOOLS

Over the past fifty years, the CMSD has evolved into a highly bureaucratized, standardized and

tightly controlled organization that manages staffing, scheduling, curriculum, operations and

budgets from central office, far removed from the day-to-day operations of schools. This is the

result of a combination of state and federal regulations, management/union contracts and

institutional customs, all of which constrain flexibility, innovation, strategic resource allocation

and rapid responsiveness to changes in community needs and educational trends.

In Cleveland’s proposed new portfolio system, the roles and responsibilities of central office will

be significantly focused so it becomes a flatter, more nimble, and more strategic professional

organization that employs a differentiated management system and drives resources to the school

building. These changes will require a fundamental shift in mindset, roles and capacity across the

organization. There are three components of this strategy: a new role for central office, school

autonomy based on performance, and redistribution of money to schools and classrooms:

Page | 8

New role for central office. The CMSD’s central office will oversee the continuous

improvement process, provide system coordination and offer targeted services to schools:

Continuous improvement process: The new, primary role of CMSD’s central office

will be to manage the portfolio of schools to ensure that all children in Cleveland

have access to an excellent school. The district will focus on rapidly growing the

number of Transformation Schools and promptly closing and replacing low-

performing district schools. The district will authorize the creation of new district and

district sponsored/contracted charter schools, monitor and evaluate schools annually

and hold all schools accountable for success. The CMSD will also promote a culture

of innovation and pilot new educational practices, models and organization.

System coordination: The CMSD will be responsible for coordinating several

essential functions that add value for schools, promote the interests of children and

protect the integrity of the organization. These functions will include: a fair and

informative citywide enrollment process, collection and dissemination of data,

appropriate communications with the public, creating a robust talent pipeline,

incubation and attraction of new schools, and compliance with state and federal

regulations.

Service provision: The CMSD will provide targeted services that are essential to the

smooth operation of the system and allow schools to focus on educating their

students. These functions will include administering local tax revenues, allocating

per-pupil funds to schools, managing facilities, and handling accounting and payroll,

as well as maintaining critical functions related to special education identification and

services. The district may offer other services to schools on a fee basis, like

professional development, etc. Finally, the district office will continue to supervise

mid- and low-performing schools until they meet the standards to become

Transformation Schools or until they are closed and replaced.

School autonomy based on performance. Under this proposed portfolio system, schools

will be given varying levels of autonomy depending upon their level of performance.

Transformation Schools will have the greatest level of autonomy over school budgets, staff

New role for central office

School autonomy based on

performance

Redistribution of money to schools and classrooms

Page | 9

selection and assignment, academic and student support programs, school calendar and

schedules and will be accountable for delivering an excellent education. The CMSD’s central

office will monitor performance annually but will have no day-to-day management authority

over these schools. Mid-performing schools will have some control over staffing and budget

but will create improvement plans that are approved and monitored regularly by the district.

Finally, low-performing schools will be guided by aggressive intervention plans that will

require flexibility in staff and resource decisions. Of course, all schools will have to abide by

certain state and federal requirements, such as state testing, non-discriminatory enrollment

policies, meeting health and safety standards, and providing education to students with

disabilities and English language learners.

Redistribution of money to schools and classrooms. The CMSD is committed to shifting

to a weighted per-pupil funding system for all schools. This entails analyzing cost-per-

graduate versus cost-per-student when determining investments and transferring a majority of

spending control to schools based on the number and needs of the students they enroll.

District Transformation Schools will largely be able to spend the funds they receive as they

see fit to advance student learning and manage and operate a successful school. This will

include spending authorization for staff, classroom instruction, student enrichment, supplies

and other resources that are not confined by regulatory structures, much like charter schools

operate today. While mid- and low-performing schools will also move to a per-pupil funding

model, their use of funds will be more prescriptive as described in the above interventions.

The district will also identify ways to authorize the transfer of some locally generated tax

revenues to charter-operated Transformation Schools that are sponsored by or have

agreements with the district. This shift in funding to schools will incentivize schools to

maintain excellence and grow enrollment; more pupils means more dollars. Schools will

have to attract and retain students, which will require an intense focus on customer service,

school safety, enrichment offerings and academic performance.

INVEST AND PHASE IN HIGH-LEVERAGE SYSTEM REFORMS ACROSS ALL SCHOOLS FROM PRESCHOOL

TO COLLEGE AND CAREER

Beyond the investments in this new, performance-based system of schools, we have identified

several fundamental building blocks upon which this plan must be built: high quality preschool

education, college and workforce readiness, year-round calendar, talent recruitment and capacity

building, academic technology enhancement, and support for high-quality charter schools.

High quality preschool education

College and workforce readiness

Year-round calendar

Talent recruitment and capacity

building

Academic technology

enhancement

Support for high-quality

charter schools

Page | 10

High-quality preschool education. Research consistently demonstrates that high-quality

preschool programs that promote academic, social, emotional and physical readiness have an

exponential return on investment. In Cleveland, about 50 percent of the district’s

kindergarten students were enrolled in district preschools as 4-year-olds, with evidence of

enormous gains in kindergarten readiness after program completion. Plans call for expanding

preschool to all 4-year-old children across the city through school-based programs and

community-based partners in the near future, with a goal of eventually expanding to 3-year-

old children as well.

College and workforce readiness. Through its commitment to the Higher Education

Compact of Greater Cleveland, the district and its charter partners will invest in college

readiness, access and persistence for all its students, with the goal of improving Cleveland

college enrollment and graduation rates. This will include increasing the number of high

school students enrolled in post-secondary coursework and partnering with local employers

to train and connect students with open positions that will provide immediate and long-term

employment opportunities.

Year-round calendar. The traditional school year—less than six hours of instruction each

day for just 180 days a year—is not enough time to close achievement gaps and build the

knowledge, skills and attributes that position our students to be successful and competitive in

the 21st century global economy. Learning time for students will be increased in all schools,

and Transformation Schools will be given authority to alter the school calendar and

classroom schedules to meet their individual demands. We will invest in year-round options

and flexible school start/stop times, and build in planning and reflection time for principals

and teachers.

Talent recruitment and capacity building. Cleveland will supplement its current highest

performing educators with a newly recruited corps of exemplary principals and teachers to

lead and teach in district and charter schools. Partnerships with Teach for America and the

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, among others, will be coupled with

rigorous development of internal talent to identify educators who can positively change the

trajectory of children’s lives. With our district-sponsored charter schools, we will explore the

expansion of the Cleveland Urban Teacher Residency program, partnering with local

universities to provide urban teaching preparation experiences for their students.

Academic technology enhancement. Cleveland will expand its investments in academic

technologies, including software, hardware and the staff training to make it successful. Not

only does our students’ success in the 21st century knowledge economy require technology

savvy, but advances in computer-aided and web-based instruction can strengthen the

effectiveness and efficiency of teaching. Specifically, this plan calls for the advancement of

computer-assisted instruction, including the exploration of blended classroom models.

Support for high-quality charter schools. The plan focuses on building partnerships with

high-performing charter schools in Cleveland that serve Cleveland’s children. In the long

run, charter schools’ existence and expansion will require additional state and local

resources. As a first step, we support a Cleveland pilot of “Invest in the Best,” which seeks

additional funding for the highest performing charter schools.

Page | 11

CREATE THE CLEVELAND TRANSFORMATION ALLIANCE TO ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALL PUBLIC

SCHOOLS IN THE CITY

Currently, there is no “one” organization that is responsible for the quality of all public school

students in Cleveland. Approximately 70 percent of public school students attend district schools

under the governance of the Cleveland Board of Education. Another 30 percent attend charter

schools, each with its own governing board and authorizer. Currently, there are ten authorizers in

the county that sponsor schools in Cleveland. This dispersed authority can be a strength. It

ensures that no single entity holds a monopoly over schools, encourages entrepreneurship, fosters

the development of new models and can limit bureaucracy. But it also has limitations. Most

notably, the public, and our parents in particular, lack consistent, useful information about the

quality of schools in Cleveland.

To address this challenge, we will create the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, a public-private

partnership charged with ensuring the growth of a portfolio of high-performing district and

charter schools in Cleveland. The composition of the Alliance will include representatives from

the district, the charter sector and the community (business, foundation, civic and neighborhood,

among others). The majority of the Alliance membership will come from outside the district to

ensure external support for and participation in the plan. It will be supported through a

combination of private and public funds. The Alliance will not replace the existing authority of

the Cleveland Board of Education or the boards of independent charter schools, but rather

assume the following unique roles: ensure fidelity to the citywide education plan, assess the

quality of all Cleveland schools, communicate to parents about quality school choices and serve

as a watchdog for charter sector growth in Cleveland:

Ensure fidelity to the citywide education plan: The Alliance will ensure that all

components of the plan are implemented based on an agreed upon timeline and measures of

success. In particular, the Alliance will work with the CMSD and partnering charter schools

to develop a multi-year plan to ensure that Cleveland is developing a diverse set of

educational options for students and families across the city. The Alliance will have a

particular focus on bringing the best national education models to Cleveland and spurring

models unique to our city with local community partners. The Alliance will also develop

venues for the community and institutions to have a voice in the development of new

schools. The Alliance will monitor and ensure faithful execution of the plan for the benefit of

all of Cleveland’s children. Should conflicts arise among any of the Alliance partners, the

Alliance will serve as the mediator and provide written recommendations to be considered by

the parties in the resolution of these conflicts.

Assess the quality of all public schools in Cleveland: The Alliance will work with the

CMSD and partnering charter schools to adopt a quality framework to consistently evaluate

the performance of all public schools in Cleveland. This framework will be evidence-based,

comprehensive and look objectively at academic, financial and operational performance, as

well as student, parent and teacher satisfaction. All public district and charter schools in

Cleveland will be annually assessed using this framework. Once collected and analyzed, the

Alliance will work with the state to ensure that all schools are held accountable for

performance, and recommend speedy closure as necessary.

Page | 12

Communicate to parents about quality school choices: The Alliance will be responsible

for communication with the public (in particular students and their families) about the quality

of public schools in Cleveland. The Alliance will produce an annual report summarizing the

results of the school quality reviews and will mount an aggressive marketing campaign

during open enrollment to provide students and families with the information they need to

make good educational choices.

Watchdog charter sector growth: Currently, Cleveland has no ability to influence the

quality of charter schools that open within city limits nor whether failing schools close. As a

first step, the Alliance will promote standards developed by the National Association of

Charter School Authorizers as it relates to the authorization of new charter schools and

timely closure of failing charters. In order to open a charter school in the City of Cleveland,

the Alliance will request that the state require “sign off” by the Alliance in addition to

sponsorship by an authorized entity as currently defined in state law. To ensure fairness and

transparency, an appeals process to the Ohio Department of Education will be defined should

the Alliance deny approval to a charter school that meets the defined standards.

PART IV. CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS Cleveland’s success will be apparent when every child in the city attends an excellent school and

every neighborhood has a multitude of great schools from which families can choose. We

believe that our strategy will aggressively grow the number of high-performing schools and

students served by those schools. We have high aspirations:

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

2010-11 2012-13 2014-15 2016-17 2018-19

Targeted number of students enrolled in

high-performing schools in Cleveland

Our goal is that at the end of six years, we will have tripled the number of

Cleveland students enrolled in high-performing district and charter

schools, and eliminated failing schools.

3X

Page | 13

Cleveland’s plan to reinvent public education in our city has the support of a broad range of

stakeholders including the mayor, the school district’s CEO and school board, and leaders from

the business, foundation and charter school communities. We are committed to doing everything

within our power to execute this plan. But we must have the right policy conditions in place.

These conditions include: necessary changes in state policy, a fresh start in labor-management

agreements and relationships and a financial sustainability plan.

NECESSARY CHANGES IN STATE POLICY

Two sets of policy changes have set the stage for implementation of our plan. First, in 1997, the

Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 269, which changed the governance structure in

Cleveland from an elected to a mayoral appointed board. This decision was overwhelmingly

reaffirmed by Cleveland voters in 2002. Mayoral control has provided 14 years of leadership

stability: we have had just three superintendents since 1998, compared to seven superintendents

in the previous decade. Second, the Ohio General Assembly passed a significant number of

education reforms during the past two legislative sessions including stronger academic standards

and assessments, requirements for a new teacher evaluation system, some limits on seniority in

reduction in force situations, strengthened controls on charter schools, and creation of innovation

schools and zones.

While these are important steps forward, they do not provide the necessary policy levers required

by Cleveland’s plan. First and foremost, the district and its schools must be able to improve the

quality of their workforce and to flexibly use staff and other resources where needed. They need

the authority to make staffing decisions based on performance rather than seniority, reward and

extend the reach of high-performing teachers, and more easily exit low-performing teachers.

Second, the district must have the power to move quickly and flexibly to intervene in its lowest

performing schools in dramatic and game changing ways. Finally, our community needs better

policy in place to support the development of a high-quality charter sector in Cleveland. Failing

charter schools only siphon funding from other schools and often leave students worse off than

when they enrolled. Charters forced to close simply reopen themselves under new names and the

same failing practices.

FRESH START IN LABOR-MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS AND RELATIONSHIPS

In order to take advantage of the complex and substantive state policy changes discussed above,

successful implementation of this plan requires a different collective bargaining framework and

process. All of our current labor contracts reflect and enforce the top down, centrally controlled

nature of traditional school districts. Cleveland’s current contract with the Cleveland Teachers

Union, for example, establishes standard operating procedures for all schools (e.g. start/end

times, the length and frequency of staff meetings, the school calendar, assignment of personnel,

etc.). It promotes standardization of education and discourages innovation. Over time, in fact,

more and more district decisions have been collectively bargained, hampering leadership’s

ability to make strategic decisions quickly and to use resources flexibly. The 2003 contract with

the Cleveland Teachers Union was ranked 49th

out of 50 most restrictive big city contracts by the

Fordham Institute. An examination of this same contract and its successor by the National

Council on Teacher Quality itemizes line after line of constrictive and inflexible rules that do not

align with an autonomy/accountability performance model.

Page | 14

There is an increasing body of research that points to the positive correlation between teacher

quality and student achievement, particularly for low-income children. This reinforces what we

have long known: that the teaching profession must move from an outdated civil service system to

a more professional and performance-based system. Where traditional collective bargaining

agreements have been concerned with delineating employee

rights, we need an agreement that champions workforce quality.

Recent efforts by both parties to redefine work rules (e.g.,

memoranda of understanding for innovative schools) point out

the limitations of the current collective bargaining environment

grounded in decades of tradeoffs and cumbersome negotiation

practices. Decisions that should be able to be reached in a

matter of days take months. The traditional bargaining practice

of adding and subtracting to the existing contract—essentially a

give-and-take approach—will not get us where we need to be.

Currently, Ohio requires collective bargaining on wages, hours,

terms, and other conditions of employment and the

continuation, modification, or deletion of an existing provision

of a collective bargaining agreement. We will not be able to

fully leverage the requested state policy changes without a

“fresh start,” as the philosophy and approaches inherent in

existing management-union contracts significantly constrain the

direction and spirit of Cleveland’s proposed plan.

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PLAN

The future of public education in Cleveland is dependent on financial stability and sustainability.

As we have noted, the district is projecting enormous deficits in the foreseeable future, including a

$64.9 million dollar operating gap for 2012–13 and an additional $40 million deficit the following

year. Several factors contribute to this ongoing financial imbalance. Foremost are significant

increases in costs in the areas of salaries and benefits resulting, in part, from automatic annual step

increases and rising health care costs. Revenues are simultaneously declining due to a reduction in

local tax collections and no new operating levy since 1996, as well as a greater than anticipated

decrease in state revenue triggered by Ohio’s elimination of the guarantee funding formula. These

deficits pose an almost insurmountable challenge. On the one hand, the district needs to protect

what is working, avoid draconian cuts and invest in key aspects of this plan. On the other, the state

law requires that the district operate with a balanced budget. To ensure short- and long-term

sustainability, the district will balance its budget using a variety of approaches:

Cost reductions Implement new efficiencies, outsource services, reduce labor costs and close additional under-enrolled, low-performing schools.

Reallocation Seek ability to use current resources more flexibly, particularly in the personnel area.

Increased revenue Seek voter approval for an operating levy in November 2012 to ensure implementation of the plan. Pursue increased county tax collection.

New grant funding Seek additional funding from local business, foundations and government to jumpstart key aspects of this plan.

…Labor and management, those of us charged with educating our children…have a mutual responsibility to ensure student and school success….So much of what is bargained is an attempt to codify behavior that, in a trusting relationship, would never need to be codified. If we adhere to this vestige of the factory model, there will be no sustainable, positive change in public education.

A New Path Forward Randi Weingarten President, American Federation of Teachers, January 12, 2010

Page | 15

We realize that it is our responsibility to close this deficit, and we will do so. However, the long-

term financial survival of the district is dependent upon the interwoven elements outlined in this

plan that allow us to do business differently.

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

The assistance of the Governor and General Assembly in putting in place the conditions for

success described above is essential to Cleveland’s plan. Quite simply, we cannot do it without

your help. As you consider our request, it is critical that this plan be viewed as a package, not as

a disparate set of menu options. We have identified six priority areas where state action is vital.

District Autonomy and Flexibility

Provide CMSD the same waivers and exemptions provided to charter schools.

Enable CMSD to manage its fiscal assets flexibly, including the sale of real estate.

Require CMSD to take immediate action with regard to its lowest performing schools.

Modern Employment Practices

Eliminate seniority as the sole or priority factor in any employment or assignment decision including reduction in force situations.

Enable more streamlined and standards-defined dismissal process.

Empower CMSD leadership to determine contract duration, terms and non-renewal criteria, including establishing a probationary period for all staff.

Require a differentiated compensation system to attract and retain excellent teachers and principals, aligned to the new teacher evaluation system and with performance as a key, but not sole, factor.

District-Charter Partnerships

Allow the district to share local levy revenues and other assets (including buildings) with high-performing charter schools sponsored by or under contract with the CMSD.

Allow the district to count enrollment of district sponsored charter schools.

Charter Sector Quality

Provide the Cleveland Transformation Alliance with sign-off authority on new charter authorizations in the City of Cleveland.

Close loopholes in existing law that allow bad charters to close and re-open under different sponsorship and ensure bad schools are closed permanently, including prohibiting transfer to the Ohio Department of Education for continued operation.

Require notice for school closures to be made to parents in June, thereby eliminating a “lame duck” year.

Fresh Start in Collective Bargaining

Require the CMSD and contracting parties to begin future negotiations without carryover terms from previous contracts.

Targeted Financial Support for the Plan

Start-up and expansion of new and high-performing school models.

Implementation of year-round schooling.

Support for high quality charter schools (i.e., a Cleveland pilot of “Invest in the Best”).

Introduction of new business systems to support the plan (e.g., per-pupil funding model).